THE PATIENT IV - THE AIR IS TOO STILL

REPORTER AT LARGE about Sylvia Frumkin (pseud.), a 33-year old patient at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens. Writer chronicles her medical history from 1972 to date, a period in which she was admitted to Creedmoor alone 7 times. In July, 1972, the day before she was to graduate from medical-secretary school, Miss Frumkin became psychotic. She was admitted to Elmhurst Hospital and later to Creedmoor's Clearview unit. There she became interested in Buddhism, and in April, 1973, moved into the Hotel Martinique, in Manhattan, a halfway house for former mental patients, run by a Buddhist. 3 months later she was back in Creedmoor, from which she ran away several times during the next year. In April, 1974 she moved to Gould Farm, a community rehabilitation center in the Berkshires, in western Massachusetts. Gould Farm's consulting psychiatrist, called Dale Greaney, cut her medication significantly, as he did that of all patients. Her behavior became disruptive, and she was asked to leave. Miss Frumkin, a Jew, became interested in Christianity, and in 1975 was invited to move in with George Klopfer, a Christian missionary, and his wife. They tried to overcome the forces of Satan within Sylvia, but failed. In Feb., 1976 she went back to Creedmoor. In June, 1977, despite her poor condition, she was transferred to Transitional Services, a program intended to help the mentally ill return to their communities. In 1978 she was readmitted to Creedmoor. Drug therapy for her schizophrenia is described and also analysed by a psychopharmacologist interview by writer. Describes her flirtation with Christianity, including therapy with Dr. Logan Stemple, a Christian psychiatrist. She moved back in with her parents in Feb., 1979, a very trying experience for them. She began to attend Fountain House, a rehabilitative house in NYC, rapidly losing her enthusiasm for it. She went back to Creedmoor, left again, and returned, finally, in Sept., 1980, her 10th time there.